ABSTRACT

Detailed police accident and injury statistics are not readily available. However, the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have published summary data for injuries to Police Service employees for the five years preceding, and including, 2009/10 (HSE, 2011). These data appear to show that members of the Police Service are at considerably greater risk of injury compared to workers from other industries. For instance, in 2008/09 the overall RIDDOR injury rate per 100,000 for Police Service employees was 1224.8 compared to an all-other-industry average of 502.2. The data also appears to show that Police Service employees experience qualitatively different risks to those faced by other safety-critical workers. Whilst slips, trips and falls are often cited as the most common cause of injury, even in high-risk domains (see Morgan, Jones, & Harris, 2013), it seems that, for the police, the most frequent injuries are not self-inflicted. According to HSE statistics the majority of injuries to police employees are the result of acts of violence against them, including physical assault, or are sustained during the handling of offenders (during arrest, custody processing, or cell transfer).